1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to packaging for well-known prepaid debit cards. Such debit cards are associated with a prepaid metered account, and the account is debited as purchases are made by a consumer. In particular, the present invention relates to a package for holding a data-encoded card associated with a metered account and a method of using the package and card combination to activate the metered account with a certain predetermined value at the time of purchase of the card and package combination.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
Prior art prepaid metered accounts associated with debit cards are well-known for providing access to goods and services, e.g., telephone services. Typically, a card having a personal identification number ("PIN") thereon is sold at a retail outlet for a certain price. This PIN number is associated with an already-activated metered account that is pre-credited with a certain predetermined value representing the value of services, e.g., telephone services, being purchased. Then, as the cardholder uses the telephone services, the cardholder provides the PIN number and the account is successively debited for the services provided until the value of the card is exhausted. Often, the predetermined value credited to the metered account may be more than the actual purchase price of the debit card because of promotional pricing, etc.
However, theft of services is a problem when such a scheme is used because unfettered access to the metered account is available to anyone who obtains knowledge of the PIN number for the pre-activated metered account, necessitating the storage of such cards under lock and key by the retail merchant until the moment the cards are sold, thereby preventing the stocking of such cards on store shelves freely accessible by prospective purchasers.
A preliminary patentability search in Class 206, subclass 439.5, and Class 40, subclass 312, produced the following patents, some of which may be relevant to the present invention: Guttman, U.S. Pat. No. 2,616,612, issued Nov. 4, 1952; Tripodi, U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,422, issued Oct. 3, 1972; Price et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,393, issued Aug. 24, 1982; Sano, U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,763, issued Dec. 19, 1989; Betheil, U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,744, issued Jan. 26, 1993; Litt, U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,021, issued Mar. 21, 1995; and Longtin, U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,832, issued Jun. 27, 1995.
Additionally, applicants are aware of a package of unknown date manufactured by the GE Capital Company and sold under the service mark "GE EXCHANGE" (part number 992439), holding a Montgomery Ward prepaid calling card for telephone services. The package appears to have a magnetic strip thereon for use in activating a metered account at the cash register where the card is purchased, and the prepaid calling card has a hidden PIN number, observable upon opening the package, for use in accessing the activated metered account. The card also has an identification number visible through an opening in the package. However, this prepaid calling card package scheme has problems because a particular card must be matched to a particular package's magnetic strip, and this correlation between card and package is difficult to ensure during manufacture.
None of these references, either singly or in combination, disclose or suggest the present invention.
It is therefore desirable to have a package for holding a data-encoded card and a method of using same to activate a metered account associated with said card at the time of purchase of the card.